Tybee Island and Muljibhai

We took a day tour from Savannah to Tybee Island while we were in Georgia this past week. There's a beautiful lighthouse there on the Island that my husband wanted to explore, and we wanted to see what the beach community looked like. We tried walking on the sand but it was filled with tiny bits of shells and pebbles, plus it was very sunny and warm that day and my husband burns easily, so we just appreciated the clean water and the clean beach before getting back up to the pavement.

The tour bus left us off at the lighthouse..... 178 steps up to the top, and of course we did that. Beautiful view from up there, and the weather was just perfect that day, as well as every day we were in Savannah. After the lighthouse, we decided to walk towards the Main Street of the Island, rather than waiting around for the tour bus. And again.... there I was in my cute little pink sandals, rather than flat shoes or sneakers. (Crimes of fashion, I swear.)

But we walked.... and walked.... two miles, maybe three.... I have no idea how far we walked, but I was wishing that I had brought along the little pedometer so I could've kept track of how many miles we walked every day.

At one point during our walk on Tybee Island, I spotted a bench under a shade tree and I told my husband that we should sit on the bench for a while before walking on towards the restaurant. We'd had an early lunch, and after the lighthouse and the Tybee Island Museum, we were more than ready for lunch. We had passed a lot of benches during our walk, but they had all been in the sun. Thankfully, this one was in the shade, and we were enjoying the rest and the cool breeze under that tree when along came Muljibhai.

Muljibhai is a 75-yr-old retired civil engineer who helps his son manage a beach motel on Tybee Island. I know all of that because Muljibhai stopped to say hello to us while we sat in the shade. As we discovered with many people in Savannah and on Tybee Island, everyone is just so very friendly and quick to start up a conversation. Muljibhai is from India, originally, and since his retirement, his mission in life is to educate the world at large (or at least in Georgia) about the benefits of healthy living.

According to Muljibhai, if you want good health, you must "earn it," because "good health cannot be purchased in bottles and jars." At 75 years of age, Muljibhai walks five miles a day, doesn't wear eyeglasses, takes no medications, doesn't have health insurance and doesn't see a doctor. His hands are steady, his voice is strong, his posture is excellent, his eyes are bright. Of course, I asked him to sign my "Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil" book, which he gladly did.

He spoke to us for nearly an hour, and my husband and I were totally impressed with his healthful lifestyle. Muljibhai eats only fruits, nuts, vegetables, beans, lentils, brown rice, and whole grains. No meat, no fish, no dairy, no sugar, no fat, no salt, and of course, no processed foods. He swears that this has kept him healthy. After all, said Muljibhai: "Do monkeys wear glasses? Does a lion get ulcers? Do birds have high blood pressure?"

Since my 30th birthday, I have eaten precious little meat and hardly any chicken, but I do eat fish. I use no salt, no butter, and only a touch of olive oil when I cook. Salads, fruits, vegetables, fish... that's the main part of my diet. I do, however, have a sweet tooth, and I love ice cream on a hot day. I used to be much stricter with myself during my 30s and 40s, but since my 50th birthday, I've eased up a little bit. As I did in Savannah, at The Lady and Sons restaurant, where I enjoyed Paula Deen's corncakes and candied sweet potatoes and peach cobbler. My easing up with myself has, since my 50th birthday, taken me from a size 6 to a size 8. Not that a size 8 is anything to complain about, but it makes me think of my Aunt Dolly, who, at 94 years of age, is still the same size 6 that she has always been.

Both my husband and I were thoroughly inspired by Muljibhai, especially after that gentle old man invited us to his home at the motel to show us his library of books. In the most gentle manner, Muljibhai suggested to my husband that he needed to lose some weight so he would be able to enjoy a more healthy life, a longer life. My husband didn't even flinch at Muljibhai's words, so gentle were they spoken, so genuine in their request. We said our goodbyes to Muljibhai after nearly an hour and a half of conversation, taking his address with us, along with a list of books on healthy eating and living.

We walked away from Muljibhai's home feeling very lucky to have met him, and very humbled by the quiet, dignified simplicity of that man's life. About a mile down the road from Muljibhai's motel-home, we found a restaurant for a late lunch. I ordered a salad, with conch fritters on the side. My husband ordered broiled shrimp with fresh corn, and he didn't touch the butter that came with the meal. We talked about Muljibhai all during our lunch.

Now, I have to admit here that before we left Savannah the next day, we went back to The Lady and Sons for lunch, and there were foods on our plates that Muljibhai wouldn't have approved of. And we talked about Muljibhai all during that meal as well.

We both went grocery shopping yesterday afternoon. We filled the shopping cart with over one hundred dollars' worth of fruits and vegetables. No meat, but I hardly buy meat anyway because I rarely cook it... my husband orders meat in a restaurant when he wants it. I didn't buy fish yesterday because I have a freezer filled with salmon. We bought not one processed food.... and I know my husband was thinking of the frozen "White Castle" hamburgers in the freezer-cases of the supermarket.

My husband is determined this time to lose the weight he has gained over the years. He sees Muljibhai as an inspiration, an educator, a wise man, a gentle soul trying to enlighten his own little part of the world. We both had fruits and vegetables and salads yesterday... and I am in my glory, I must say. When I lived alone, before we got married, my fridge was always filled with fruits and veggies and I truly loved to make fresh and colorful salads with dozens of ingredients. I've made those salads since we've gotten married, of course, and I truly do still enjoy them, but it's more fun making them for two, rather than just for me.

As we stood in line at the supermarket yesterday, I looked at our shopping cart filled to the brim with fresh foods and told my husband "Muljibhai would be proud!"